Chester nursing home fined over abuse incidents

A Chester nursing home has been fined $1,730 by the state in connection with incidents of verbal and physical abuse of residents and for failing to report rashes to a doctor for several days.

The state Department of Public Health issued the citations Feb. 4 to Chesterfields Health Care Center for incidents of abuse in August and October that were substantiated and for the alleged outbreak of a contagious skin disease in January.

On Aug. 28, a witness reported seeing a nurse’s aide “being rough” with a resident, the citation states. The aide was removed from the job pending an investigation, which found that the aide had “yanked” on the resident’s pants and was “very forceful” to the point that the resident “moaned,’’ records show.

On Oct. 3, a witness reported that a nursing assistant used “abusive speech” and “foul language” while caring for a resident, records show. The aide was removed from the resident’s unit pending an investigation. The aide admitted using a foul word about the resident’s incontinence, but denied directing it at him or her, records show.

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Ann Collette, a spokeswoman for Apple Rehab, which owns Chesterfields, said the company’s primary goal is to ensure the safety and well-being of residents.

“Chesterfields Health Care Center maintains a zero tolerance policy for abuse of any kind which includes a full investigation, immediate suspension resulting in termination if the abuse is substantiated,” she said.

In January, the center’s records failed to reflect that a doctor was notified about two residents with rashes for six days, the citation states. Records also failed to show that a doctor was notified about another resident with a rash for three days, the citation states. The doctor reported he or she was not notified about the outbreak until arriving at the center Jan. 22, six days after the first two residents had symptoms, records show.

Based on the home’s recent history of scabies, the doctor prescribed treatment for the contagious skin condition, records show.

Collette said the rash was identified by a nurse and assessed as a non-communicable rash that she did not believe required a physician’s notification. The rash was subsequently documented, she said.

“A diagnosis of scabies was not validated [by a test] and no outbreak occurred in the center,’’ Collette said.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org).